Wheel-rim.



.IED snares raanwr canton.

FRANKLIN FROMMANN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 OLIVE FROMMANN, OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WHEEL-RIM.

Application filed June 6, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN A. FROM- MANN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWheel-Rims; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to rim construction for vehicles and moreparticularly to fastenings for members comprising the floatingly carriedrim portions of wheels having cushioning elements interposed between thelatter and the hub members of the wheel with respect to which the saidrims are floatingly mounted. In Wheels of this class, it has long beencustomary to provide the outer or floatingly carried tire portion of theWheel with side flanges having sliding engagement with the lateral edgesof an inner rim carried by the hub member of the wheel. In practice, itusually has not been feasible to have the side flanges integral with therim portion of the wheel, as such a construction makes the cushioningmembers diflicult of access and also makes it diflicult to assemble thewheel. Consequently, it has been customary to provide the side flangeswith substantially cylindrical webs extending laterally outward from theradially outer edge of each side flange, and to bolt the said webs tothe rim of the tire member of the wheel. When such rims are in service,the friction between each side flange and the edge of the inner rimfrictionally engaged by the side flange tends to hold the latter againstrotating with the rim member to which it is bolted; consequently, theweb of each side flange tends to slide upon therim to which it issecured by the bolt, thereby exerting a strain tending to shear off theshank of the bolt.

The object of my invention is to provide means for increasing theeflective resistance of the said bolts against the heretofore describedshearing action without increasing the size of the bolts themselves to apoint which would make them clumsy in appearance and which would beprohibitive for the space usually available in a compact clesign of suchvehicle rims. I accomplish this Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 27, 1917.

Serial No. 772,094.

object by the construction shown in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure -lis a fragmentary side elevation of the radially outer portionsof a wheel equipped with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary radial section through the same wheel.

Fig. -3 is a fragmentary section showing an alternative embodiment of myinven tion.

In the drawings, the hub member of the wheel has spokes 1 supporting asubstantially cylindrical inner rim member equipped at its lateral edgeswith annular grooved formations 8 adapted to house lateral projectionsupon the base of a cushioning member 4. The rim 2 has its lateral edgesdisposed in a plane transverse to the axis of the wheel, so as to afforda sliding bearing along the same plane for the inner edge of an annularside flange 5. The side flange 5 has adjacent to its outer edge asubstantially cylindrical web 6 extending laterally outward of the wheeland adapted to engage the inner surface of the cylindrical rim 7 of thetire member floatingly carried by the hub member of the wheel. The tiremember of the wheel may be equipped with any suitable form of tire ortread formations, but is shown in the drawings as having a plurality ofwooden tread blocks 9 between the same. The tread block adjacent to eachof the outer webs 8 is recessed upon its radially inner face so as toprovide room for the head 10 of a bolt extending substantially radiallyof the wheel through the outer rim 7 and the web 6 of the side flange,this bolt having at its inner end a nut for tightening the same. Thisnut preferably consists of a hexagonal head portion 11 adapted to engagethe radially inward face of a boss 12 upon the said web 6 and having atubular shank 13 extending radially outward from the hexagonal portion11, the shank 13 being long enough to extend radially outward beyond thejuncture of the web 6 and the rim 7 and to enter the recess 14: bored inthe latter. The recess 14 has a bore corresponding closely to theoutside diameter of the tubular shank 13, so that the said shank willsnugly fit the said recess. Consequently, when the bolt is insertedthrough the rim 7, the web 6 and the boss 12 thereon, and when thebushing 11 is threaded upon the same bolt,

this bushing will resist the heretofore described shearing strain byofiering a crosssection many times greater than that of the shank of thebolt.

Instead of providing the bushing with an internal thread adapted toengage the thread of the bolt, the bore of the bushing may be.unthreaded as in the case of the bushing 13 shown in Fig. -3-, in whichcase the thread upon the member 11 of the bushing is replaced by athread upon a nut 15 separate from the said bushing. In either case, Ipreferably employ a lock nut 16 for prevent ing the bolt from beingloosened by the jarring and vibration to which the wheel is subjected inpractice. I also preferably position the radial perforation in the rim 7so that one edge of the member 10 of the bolt will be close to theadjacent edge of the lateral web 8 of the tire member of the wheel,whereby the head of the bolt will be prevented from rotating byengagement with the said web 8. However, I do not wish to be limited tothis or other precise details of the construction herein disclosed, asthe same might be modified in many ways without departing from thespirit of the appended claims.

I claim as new and desire to cover by Letters Patent:

1. The improvements herein described comprising a vehicle rim consistingof a cylindrical portion and side flanges and adapted to be fioatinglycarried upon a wheel, means for securing the side flanges to the rimcomprising a plurality of bolts extending radially through alinedperforations in the side flanges and rim, bushings on the bolts havingthreaded engagement with the bolt, and projecting through the sideflange and into the rim and a nut on each bolt for engagement with thebushing thereon.

2. In a vehicle rim having a cylindrical rim portion and a pair of sideflanges, a

wheel; a bushing slidably fitting but shorter than the uncontractedportion of the said perforation, the bore of the bushing substantiallyequal to the bore of the said contracted portion of the perforation; anda bolt extending through the said bore of the bushing and the saidcontracted portion of the perforation; the said bolt having threadedengagement with a portion of the bore of the said bushing.

3. In a vehicle rim having a cylindrical rim portion and a pair of sideflanges, a cylindrical web integral with each of the said flanges, aplurality of lateral enlargements upon each side flange adjacent to itsweb, a radial perforation in each of said enlargements, the saidperforation extended through the adjacent rim portion and contracted atits end radially outward of the wheel; a bushing slidably fitting butshorter than the uncontracted portion of the said perforation, the boreof the bushing sub stantially equal to the bore of the said contractedportion of the perforation; and a bolt extending through the said boreof the bushing and the said contracted portion of the perforation; thesaid bolt having threaded engagement with a portion of the bore of thesaid bushing; one of the said rims presenting a portion engaging thehead of the bolt to prevent rotation thereof.

4. The improvements herein described comprising a vehicle rim consistingof a cylindrical portion and side flanges and adapted to be floatinglycarried 'upon a wheel, means for securing the side flanges to the rimcomprising a plurality of bolts extending radially through alinedperforations in the side flanges and rim, bushings on the boltsextending through the side flanges and into the rim and serving to dowelthe rim and side flanges together, and nuts on the bolts for holding thebushings against removal. V

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

FRANKLIN A. FROMMANN.

WVitnesses M. M. BOYLE, ALBERT SOHEIBLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

